A Century-Old Agunah Story
Regarding Rabbi Shlomo Weissman and Michael A. Helfand’s article “New Hope for Agunot – Or Halachic and Constitutional Problem?” (May 6).
I am currently in my 70s. Around 110 years ago, my grandmother, Henya-Bluma, then in her early twenties, married a man through a shidduch, although she really did not know him very well. She had just arrived in the U.S. after both her parents passed away in Ukraine. Her husband had a number of serious faults, the most egregious of which was that he was unfaithful to her. She immediately obtained her civil divorce, but her husband refused to give her a get.
Can anyone think of anything more humiliating and degrading for a religious Jewish woman than to have her husband cheat on her yet be unable to halachically end the marriage?
After being an agunah for four years, she was able to obtain her get through a fluke. Shortly after their marriage, they had bought a house together. After the civil divorce, my grandmother moved out of the house into her own apartment while he remained. After four years, her husband wanted to sell the house, but both of them were owners and my grandmother was entitled to half the profits of the sale of the house. She told him that she would agree for him to sell the house and would not ask for a penny from the profits of the sale, if he first agreed to give her a get. Of course he agreed so that he could keep all the money from selling the property.
Around six months after her get, my grandmother met my grandfather and the rest is history.
I would love to see rabbis do what they can to help women halachically divorce their husbands who have disrespected them in such a manner.
Pesach-Yonah Malevitz
Miami Beach, FL
Leadership Lacks Morality, Not Wisdom
I read Dennis Prager’s article, “Paving the Road to Heaven,” (June 10) with great interest. While I agree with some of his assertions (i.e., references to the lack of wisdom), the people who are taking the U.S. down the road to ruination (rather than to heaven) are not without wisdom. They have the wisdom to purvey big lies (as did the Germans, and virtually all socialist governments) in their march to the suppression of both freedoms and opposition. They had the wisdom to compromise one, if not more, election processes in ways that are still being uncovered. They are immoral if not amoral. This process is not new …. It has been going on for decades. Once the ability to think was supplanted by teaching people what to think, it became easier to implement their plans.
As for their being evil, in my opinion that is associated with taking G-d out of the lives of so many people. Their disdain for the constitution, for the rule of law by which the U.S. was run for generations, is clearly on display. But it’s not surprising. If there’s no respect for G-d’s laws, then why would man-made laws be any more respected?
Their evil is blatant and with little restraint. They prevaricate without any sense of shame. They create false narratives and documents to bolster their positions. And, even when their schemes are uncovered, they cannot admit their complicity.
Their blatant disdain for order, for long-existing institutions and procedures was probably best exemplified by Nancy Pelosi tearing up her copy of the State of the Union Address at the end of President Trump’s speech.
They’re also not interested in doing things for the greater good, unless it’s their own greater good. Gas prices are higher than ever, inflation is soaring, the borders are left open and millions of illegal and unvetted immigrants are flooding the county (in many instances with help from the unconcerned leadership. The fourth character trait as described in (I believe) Pirkei Avot is that one who says, “What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine” is a wicked man.
People – We need to wake up to the reality that without a G-d-based morality we are going to be subsumed by the socialist inclinations of the current leadership. Ask anyone who has lived in a socialist country whether what is happening today parallels what happened in their country. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it (as said, I believe, by George Santayana).
Finally, as Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Steven Katz
West Palm Beach, FL
Beyond Gun Control
Much is being made of the recent mass shooting incidents, and justifiably so. It is reasonable and necessary to properly screen potential gun purchasers. Are they violent felons, do they have a history of mental illness, are there any red flags? This, however, is just a starting point in the fight to reduce and eliminate these heinous incidents. First, we must ask ourselves whether existing laws are being properly enforced; if not, that has to be addressed. It also must be noted that New York state arguably has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country, but sadly this has not forestalled the rampant daily shootings and murders in New York City and State.
Even more crucial is recognition of the devolution of societal ethos. It should be no surprise that the production of sociopathic homicidal young adults and even children has increased with the advent of CRT and the proliferation of gender dysmorphic teachings by schools to children at younger and younger ages. Furthermore, the misuse and pitfalls of social media as well as increased usage of mobile devices have also contributed mightily to the breakdown of our value systems. People no longer need to interact on a personal face-to-face level. This facilitates a process of dehumanization of the people we communicate with on a daily basis, thereby making it easier to contemplate or even act on thoughts of violence against others. After all they are merely letters and symbols on a screen. There has developed in American society with a lack of empathy toward others, and a state of chaos with respect to the emotional development and well-being of our children and young adults. Many adults have fallen prey to this dysfunction as well. The suppression of religious and spiritual affiliation and guidance has left a terrible void as well.
The bottom line is that the root cause of society’s ills must be attended to, or any laws passed to “control” the dissemination of firearms are doomed to fail.
George Weiss
Brooklyn, NY
Three Unfunny Stooges
Under President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and House Speaker Pelosi, Americans face the highest inflation rate in 40 years. Food costs more. Housing costs more, be it insurance, maintenance, mortgage, property taxes or repairs. Transportation costs more, be it car rentals, insurance, leases, maintenance, payments, public transit, repairs or vehicles, used or new. Utilities cost more. Healthcare, long-term healthcare insurance and medications are going up.
Security at our southern border has been abandoned. This year we are on the way to seeing two million illegal crossings – accompanied by record amounts of Fentanyl. Over 100,000 fellow citizens will die in 2022 as a result of Fentanyl overdose. While this is going on, Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and company continue to live the lifestyle of the one percent, while the rest of us have to pay for the consequences of their actions. Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and friends remind me of the Three Stooges, Moe, Larry and Curly.
While the Stooges made us laugh, Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and allies make us cry. They continue to inflict daily economic pain on us. Give Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and accomplices credit for driving the middle class into extinction. America is on the way to becoming a country of the very rich and very poor under their leadership.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, NY
Where Are the True Liberals of Yesteryear?
Liberalism, the noble, inclusive, beacon of tolerance and brotherhood that so many of us grew up with, is no more. Once an integral part of the Democratic Party, it has morphed into an ugly, mean-spirited world of exclusion, intolerance and class warfare. This sickness emanates from the Democratic Party and its sizable bastion of far-left members.
Where once we had giants like Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey and so many others leading the way of civility and tolerance, we’re currently encumbered by the likes of the “squad” and too many other Democrats who preach antisemitic, anti-American far-left dogma on a daily basis.
Senate and House Majority leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi respond, if at all, with meek, meaningless wrist slaps. Do they agree with the bile being spewed or are they simply fearful of offending what has, sadly, become a considerable segment of the Democratic Party?
As for tolerance, it has become a relic, a dinosaur. The new Democratic Party, has instituted a system whereby to disagree with the LGBTQ community constitutes the worst of sins. Disagreeing, no matter how reasonably and politely, puts you at risk of being verbally assaulted, labeled as racist, homophobic, misogynistic, Islamophobic, xenophobic and more.
If you note the race-hustling of militant groups like BLM and further note their misappropriation of donated funds, you’re branded as racist. The Antifa thugs insult our collective intelligence by proclaiming, by its name, to be anti-fascist while committing the kind of thuggery once perpetrated by the 20th century fascists, Hitler’s brown shirts and Mussolini’s black shirts.
What used to be common knowledge and common sense, the simplicity of believing there are two sexes, male and female, is now a mortal sin that must be punished by ridicule, threats and making public the addresses of citizens that have stated this “heresy.” An out-of-control Justice Department, regards parents of schoolchildren as “domestic terrorists” after they’ve objected to the nonsense being forced on children.
The examples of liberalism morphing into fascism and bolshevism are very disturbing, while the left, aided by a compliant, biased media, daily warns America of the “great threat posed by far-right extremists.” Can anyone reading this recall a single example of white supremacy they’ve actually seen, heard about or encountered in the last few years, or much longer than that?
Where’s the outrage when Antifa shows up in sizable numbers and does much physical harm, including arson and destruction of property? Congressman Jerrold Nadler claims Antifa is a myth. Is he fit to serve in the U.S. House?
The pendulum has swung, as it often does, too far. Today, thanks to various legislation and decades of enlightenment through education, a fairer, more tolerant America has emerged. However, that pendulum has created a constituency within the Democratic Party and its allies in the mainstream media whereby tolerance, fairness and equity, protected by the rule of law, aren’t enough.
Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey and other good, decent Americans would be aghast and ashamed at the machinations and intolerance of today’s Democratic Party.
Myron Hecker
Via email
